NYC's new child care report gets the diagnosis right
New York City's Marshall Plan for Moms Task Force just published its final report after two years of work by the Commission on Gender Equity and dozens of public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders. The headline numbers are sobering. Infant and toddler care in the city now averages $18,000 to $26,000 a year. Cost growth has been quintuple wage growth. By the federal affordability standard, fewer than 1 in 10 NYC families can afford center-based care. If you employ New Yorkers, this is what your people with young kids face.
I want to focus on the workplace policy recommendations. The report notes that the tax credits meant to encourage employer support for child care haven't produced anything at the needed scale, and identifies the reasons: complex eligibility rules, high upfront costs, administrative burden. Here's what I'd add, respectfully, from the employer side of the table.
The report argues for child care support on the grounds of equity and workers' rights. That argument is valid and important. But that argument is rarely going to be enough to motivate a small firm to write a large check. What moves that firm are numbers. And the numbers, for the first time, are incredibly strong in a way the report doesn't mention: for many New York employers, the combination of the expanded federal employer child care credit and the state's own employer child care credit covers most of the cost of a properly designed program, often around 70%, sometimes more. Add on what NYCEDC, MomsFirst, and others have documented on retention and absenteeism, and employer-supported child care appeals not just on altruistic grounds but because it offers among the best returns on all employee benefits.
The report calls for a series of public-private business roundtables on care. I agree. But these roundtables need to go beyond saying "here is a list of credits that exist." They need to present hard numbers and concrete action steps. Here is what a program costs. Here is what comes back. Here is the net. Here's what it means for your bottom line. The operational complexity remains, but that's a service problem, one that firms like mine exist to solve.
So here's both kudos and an offer. To the Commission on Gender Equity, Women.NYC, and everyone holding employer conversations: if you want someone to walk small and mid-sized employers through the actual economics, worked examples and all, I'd welcome the chance. That's the work I do every day, and it's the missing link between this report's sorely-needed diagnosis and employers acting on it.